Thursday, 20 August 2015

POP! Marvel: Scarlet Witch

Year: 2015

Company: Funko

Series: POP! Marvel

Avengers: Age of
Ultron was a lot of fun, though on reflection its flaws have become a little
more apparent. In particular I think that although James Spader turned in some good voice
work, I didn’t think Ultron was that amazing as a villain – which is a problem
when his name is in the title.

But there were a lot of highlights. Vision was definitely
one, and so was his likely future love interest, Scarlet Witch. Hopefully she
has a little more to do in the upcoming MCU films, but it wasn’t a bad debut. And
now she’s arrived in Funko POP form!

Her movie costume is quite different to her classic
comic outfit, which is maybe not so surprising. It takes a little from her Ultimates incarnation, but is still
quite distinct. The red and black colour scheme is a good one, and it’s nicely
distinct from all the other Avengers. I can see it being a cosplay favourite at
conventions.

Funko has been shifting away from using painted prototypes
in their promotional images lately, using CG renders instead. This doesn’t
really bother me, as the usually simplistic POP style lends itself to CG images
more than say, a NECA Predator. The only major difference I can see between the
“prototype” and the finished product is that she’s been given eyeshadow, which
is a nice little touch. She was the only one in the store, so I didn’t have
much choice in terms of paint, but I’m pleased to report that she has actually
turned out quite well. Some of the small details, like her rings, could be a
little cleaner, but it’s still way better than plenty of others in the
collection.

Curiously, she doesn’t include a stand – though she needs it
more than Black Widow, who did come
with one. She’ll stay balanced, but she’s easy to knock over.

With the release of Scarlet Witch, we are now only waiting on
one more Avenger from Funko – Wanda’s brother, Quicksilver. I’m not convinced
that he will actually get released, but you never know. Personally, I hope that
the Hulkbuster ends up getting a wider release first, given his *SPOILER ALERT*
untimely demise towards the film’s end.

There are only a few pieces of Scarlet Witch merchandise
doing the rounds from the film, all of them with varying degrees of quality.
With the exception of the upcoming Hot Toys
version, this is probably the best of them, though the Lego Minifigure isn’t
too bad either. I think she’ll be a little bit rare for a while, but if you can
track her down she’s definitely worth the purchase price.